Improvement in beds for invalids



PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. n c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

JOHN N. MORRISON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENTIN BEDS FOR INVALIDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,056, dated September 22, 1863.

rTo all whom t may concern:

Be itknown that I, JOHN N. MORRISON, of the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Beds for Invalids and Fracture-Patients 5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which;

Figure l is a side elevation of an invalid or fracture bed illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same at 1 l, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of the same at 2 2, Figs. 2 and 4.' Fig. 4 is a transverse section at 3 3, Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

My said invention relates to a bed on which an invalid or fracture-patient may recline and have his shoulders and legs supported in any required positions. v

The invention particularly consists, first, in mechanism for adjusting the leg-rests and securing them in any positions desired 5 second, in improved devices for placing the bed-pan in position for use or replacing it with a pad 5 third, in devices for tightly covering the pan and for permitting the removal of the same fourth, in a peculiar manner of mounting and adjusting a desk for the patients use.

In order that others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may be enabled to fully understand and use the same, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation. v

A is the main supporting-frame.

B represents the central stationary part of the bed, formed with an aperture, a, for the reception of the bed-pan.

B' is the hinged back, which may be placed in a horizontal position, or supported at any desired height, by means of hinged props O, resting in racks D.

E E are leg-rests, jointed at e, and separately hinged to the bed A at e.

F F are bars hinged at f to the legrests and at their other ends sliding in slots therein and secured in any position by elampnuts f, so as to impart any required deflection to the knee-joints e.

Gr G are slottedbars hinged at g to the bars F, and secured to the frame A by clamp-nuts g in any position which may be needful to support the leg-rests at the desired height.

H represents a carriage adapted to traverse on guideways I, and provided with an endless cord or chain,J, by which it may be moved in either direction. In the present illustration the cord or chain J is stretched between a pulley, j, and windlass K, the latter being provided with a pulley, 7c, to which motion is communicated through belts or chains K K2 and pulleys 7c k2. The carriage H is constructed with two compartments, 7L h', one con taining a pad, L, and the other a pan, M, resting on a stand, m.

N is a spring-catch which engagesin a hole in the bottom of the carriage whenever the latter is in position to adapt either the pan IVI or pad L to be elevated through the aperture a in the bed. When the carriage is to be moved,the said catch is withdrawn by a cord,

n, which may be carried over the edge of the bed in convenient position for the hand ofthe patient.

O O are a` pair of flanged gates, working' in vertical guides o o, and fitting beneath the edges of the pad L or the stand m of the pan, whenever either is in position to be raised. The said gates are drawn up by levers P P by means of cords p p, passing over a windlass, Q, which may be rotated by a crankwheel, q, or other suitable means, either by the patient or by an attendant.

It is a ratchet or pawl to hold the said levers in their upper position.

S is a cord, iitted in any suitable way to permit the patient or an attendant to withdraw the ratchet when it is designed to permit the pan or pad to descend. When the pad is in position for use, the compartment It of the carriage, which contains the pan, iits under a stationary cushioned cover, T, which tightly closes the pan so as to prevent any efuvia rising therefrom.

U represents a desk swiveled upon a horizontal nracket,V,which is itself swiveled upon a standard, YV, pivoted at w to the lower part of the frame A, and secured in any required position by a clamp-screw, X, fitting movably in a slot, w, in the frame. The said standard is formed at its-lower end with a socket iitting a suitable pin on the hinge w, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, so that when the clamp-screw X is removed from its retainattend to his own wants withoutthe presence ing-slot x the standard and desk may be entirely removed.

u fv are thumb-screws employed to tix the desk at any desired angle vertically and horizontally. v

When the patient requires to use the pa-n, he withdraws the ratchet or pawlR by means ot' the cord S, which releases the levers P P and permits the pad L to descend by its own weight. He then, with the left-hand, pulls the cord n to withdraw the spring-catch N, and with his right hand draws the endless cord J, which, by means of the pulleys j 7c 7c k2, windlass K, and chain K K2, moves the carriage forward until its motion is arrested by the spring-catch N, when the pan M will be in position immediately under the aperture a. He then operates the crank g with his right hand so as to elevate the pan into the aperture a ofthe bed. To replace the pan with the pad,the former is caused to descend by its own weight, as already explained, the springcatch N withdrawn, the carriage moved back until aga-in stopped,and the pad L is then elevated. rI he carriage may then be run back still farther and projected out through a doorway, Y, to permit the removal of the pan for emptying.

The construction and operation of the elevatinglevers will be more clearly understood from thelongitudinal sectional view, Fig. 5.

In order to render the operation of lowering the pan or pad more easy, the cords p p may be made to extend over the sides of the bed within convenient reach of the hands. The apparatus, as will be seen, enables any patient having even partial use of his arms to of an attendant.

By lowering` the leg-rests and raising the head ot' the bed it may be changed into a convenient and comfortable easychair, and this change of the patient from a recumbent to a sitting position, or vice versa, may be effected without fatigue or violence, and without removing him from his couch.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of the jointed leg-rests E E and jointed supporting-bars F F G G, when the said parts are constructed and arranged to operate in the manner and for the purposes herein specified.

2. The carriage H ,constructed and operated substantially as set forth, to place either the pad L or pan M beneath the aperture a in the bed. v

3. The elevatinglevers P P and retainingratchet R, or equivalent devices,operating in any manner substantially as described, to raise the pad or pan and retain it in the aperture d. s

4. The air-tight cover T, employed in the described combination with the carriage H, to close the pan M when not in use. y

5. The combination ofthe removable swiveled standard W, swivel V, and clamp-screws or nuts u e, for securing the desk or table Uin any required position.

JOHN N. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

JAMES SIMPsoN, GEO. W. CRAWFORD. 

